


Let's Start A Band

by SpookyCouch



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Marauders - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29724408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyCouch/pseuds/SpookyCouch
Summary: Sirius Black is a Freshman at Boston University, and has a crush on the curly haired blonde boy on his floor, who constantly sings under his breath. In an effort to get Remus to like him, he pretends that he knows how to play the drums, but when Remus suggests they start a band, he actually has to learn how to play!Non-Magical Modern College AU, the Marauders all live on the same floor of their dorm. Mainly a Wolfstar fic but Jily is there too :) I'm writing this because ATYD broke my heart!
Relationships: Jily - Relationship, wolfstar - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Let's Start A Band

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All the Young Dudes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10057010) by [MsKingBean89](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsKingBean89/pseuds/MsKingBean89). 



> This work is still in progress, but I have the whole plot planned out so don't fret, this won't be left incomplete.  
> If you want anything specific to be included, leave me a comment and I'll see if I can fit it in!

Sirius felt his arms start to burn as he carried his second giant suitcase up the stairs to the two-room suite which would be his for the next year. There was an elevator, but it was slow and there were already too many people waiting for it. He figured the pros (Not hauling his stuff up two flights of stairs) simply weren’t worth the cons (waiting at least five minutes, only to be squished against ten other people and their various boxes and suitcases). He reached his suite again to find that his first suitemate had arrived, and was grappling with his own unruly suitcase.

“Are you James or Peter?” Sirius asked as he set his bag down and began to tie his long hair up into a messy bun. 

The lanky boy whipped his head around and dropped the suitcase, narrowly managing to move his foot before it was caught under it. “Jesus you scared me! I’m James, and you are?” He pushed his glasses back up to their proper place after they’d slid down his nose as he turned.

Sirius held out his hand for James to shake, “I’m Sirius, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” James smiled as he shook his hand, then ran the other hand through his hair and swept his eyes over the room they stood in. “So have you claimed a bed yet?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and have tentatively decided I want one of the beds in the other room,” Sirius nodded his head toward the open door on their right, “I’d prefer not to have people constantly walking through my space in order to get to and from their bed.”

“Too right! I was thinking the same thing, so I guess we’ll share and leave poor Peter out here.” James smiled so easily that Sirius thought it must be the natural state of his face.

“He should’ve come sooner! Not our fault.” Sirius grinned at James and got the feeling they were going to get along very well.

“Early bird gets the worm!” James leaned down and picked up his suitcase again. “Do you still have much more down there to bring up?” he asked as he walked into the next room.

“Just one more big box, and the couch my parents insisted was necessary.” Sirius picked up his own suitcase and followed James. He settled his things near the bed on the right side of the room. 

“Did you just say a couch? And I thought my parents were indulging me with dorm supplies.” James laughed as he said it.

“Oh trust me, it has nothing to do with me, they just want to convince themselves that they’re not shitty parents by buying me stuff.” Sirius said it flippantly, but James looked over at the bitterness in his voice and blinked at him. After a moment of awkward silence Sirius smiled and said, “So, shall we go do some more lifting?”

“Yeah sure, let’s get to it.”James smiled back, kindly letting the moment pass.

They walked back into the other room just as a shorter boy with sandy hair waddled in trying to shoulder the world’s heaviest looking backpack and dragging a suitcase behind him. He was looking behind him as he tried to get the wheel of the suitcase over the bump of the doorway, but Sirius interrupted his turmoil with a, “Peter right?”

Peter’s head snapped to where James and Sirius stood and cleared his throat nervously before answering, “Yeah that’s me, what are your names?”

Sirius grinned and pointed at the door Peter was currently standing next to, “Says our names right there, but I’m Sirius--”

“And I’m James, nice to meet you Peter.” James started to stick his hand out for Peter to shake but thought better of it as he realized Peter was still very occupied with his luggage. “Do you want a hand there?”

“Please, yeah I can’t get the suitcase over the bump--” Peter gave it another tug.

James lifted it while Peter tugged again and it went gliding into the room at last.

“Thanks, I don’t know how long I would have been standing here struggling.” Peter gave an embarrassed grin.

“No worries, that’s what roomies are for,” James returned Peter’s smile and then continued, “We’re gonna head down and grab the rest of our stuff, do you have more down on the ground floor?”

“Nah, I think my parents are bringing the boxes up now--”and just as Peter said this two watery eyed blonde adults came into view in the doorframe. 

“There you are Petey! We finally managed to park, where should we put this stuff?” Said Peter’s mother as she walked into the space. “You must be Petey’s roommates! You can just call us Mr and Mrs. Pettigrew, it’s lovely to make your acquaintance.”

Sirius looked dubious but James immediately replied, “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew, I’m James, and this is Sirius.”

Mr Pettigrew spoke this time, asking, “So which bed is yours Pete?”

Peter looked to Sirius and James and said, “I’m not sure, have you two chosen yet?”

James and Sirius made eye contact quickly and Sirius fought the urge to laugh before replying, “Yeah, we put our stuff in the other room, and since there’s just the three of us we should brainstorm what to do with the extra bed and space in this room. I have a couch downstairs that we could put against the far wall?”

They all agreed that they should come up with a fun use of the space, and headed downstairs with Peter’s parents to get the rest of their things. 

James’ parents met him in the lobby with his remaining boxes, and excitedly introduced themselves.

“Oh my aren’t you both so handsome! I’m Euphemia Potter--feel free to call me Effie.” Mrs Potter said while linking her arm through James’.

“Hi boys, I’m Fleamont Potter, but you can call me Monty.” He smiled at the boys and picked up the box at his feet, and spoke to James, “Shall you show us to your room?”

James’ parents, after meeting Peter’s, asked Sirius where his mother and father were. Sirius didn’t know what to tell them so he just said that they couldn’t make it, and tried to ignore the pitying looks from his new roommates and their clearly loving parents. 

With everyone’s help they managed to get all the boxes up to their suite in just one trip and came back down for the couch. It was a soft midnight blue velvet couch that looked like it would be more at home in a grand estate than a dorm room, but no one commented other than to say that it was nice. 

James, Sirius, and Mr Potter managed to maneuver it in front of the elevator, and patiently waited for it to arrive with no one in it. They had to tilt it up at an odd angle but they got it into the elevator and were focused on holding it in place when a tall curly haired blond boy stepped into the elevator at the last second. 

He was holding a medium sized cardboard box and his bluetooth headphones just barely bled the sound of Hunnybee by Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The elevator seemed to move at a glacial pace and Sirius was simultaneously worried about the cables snapping due to the couch they were holding, and about not looking obvious as he stared at the side of the curly-haired-boy’s face. The boy was looking straight ahead at the doors of the elevator and bobbing his head to the music, just slightly moving his lips along with the words. Sirius couldn’t take his eyes off the boy’s mouth, noticing a very faint scar from his chin to his top lip that stretched as he almost inaudibly sung, " _ hunnybee, hunnybee, there’s no such thing, the sweetest thing..." _

The elevator doors parted and miraculously the curly-haired-boy got off on their floor. Sirius tried to follow which room he was walking to but got distracted as his help was needed to maneuver the couch down the hall to their room. 

Now that they’d finally gotten the couch into the space they put the unused bed in the far corner and the couch against the wall across from the door. Sirius declared that it was time for music and dug through his boxes until he resurfaced with large speakers and a sub woofer. He crawled under his desk and plugged everything in and popped back up with a face splitting smile.

“Anyone mind if I get this move-in party started?” Sirius looked around the room and was met with wide smiles from everyone, including the parents.

“Fire it up DJ!” James laughed as he was unpacking things onto his desk.

“Please anything but rap!” Shot Peter’s mother from the other room.

Sirius rolled his eyes, thinking that he should put on some 90’s rap just for that comment, but instead opted for his Bedroom Pop playlist. Lucy by Still Woozy filled the suite and he got approving nods from James and Peter. Euphemia started dancing as she unpacked James’ things for him, much to his embarrassment. 

After an hour or so of everyone working together to set up the space it finally looked like somewhere Sirius wouldn’t mind living. The front room opened straight into a lounge area consisting of the velvet couch, the two mini fridges that came with the suite nestled under the extra bed, and a small bookshelf Peter had brought with him. To the left of the door was Peter’s desk (covered in books and comics), and his bed pushed into the left corner. 

Through the door to the next room Sirius’ bed was on the right, with his desk in the far right corner, and James’ bed in the far left corner, with his desk just to the left of the door. Sirius covered his side of the walls in band posters, most of which none of the people in the room had heard of. James kept his walls blank but had several plants sitting on top of his desk, and one hanging in the corner above his bed by the window. 

All things considered, Sirius thought it looked pretty damn good. Home-y. Certainly more comfortable than the house he’d come from. 

At this point, it was nearing dinner time so both the Potter’s and the Pettigrew’s went off for last dinners together before the parents would be heading back to their respective hometowns. The Potter’s very kindly invited Sirius along with them, but he told them to go enjoy their family time and they left. 

They hadn’t closed the door on their way out, but that didn’t bother Sirius as a lot of people were still excitedly moving about the hall with their doors open. He threw himself on the couch and put his arm over his eyes to shade them from the golden hour sun streaming in from the window. He slowly bobbed his head to Dark Red by Steve Lacy, playing from the other room. 

He glanced over to where the door was still open, and he was about to get up to close it, when he made eye contact with the curly-haired-boy from the elevator as he walked past. Time seemed to slow down as he walked by, their eye contact nearly making Sirius shiver. He wasn't holding anything this time, and his hazel eyes looked at Sirius with interest. 

But then he was gone and Sirius was left lying on the couch, frozen, and feeling stupid for not closing his door sooner, but also so very glad he’d left it ajar long enough to see that boy again. 

Eventually he realized that he had to eat as well, so he grabbed his wallet and keys, stopped the music, and made his way to the dining hall. He was glad he’d attended the orientation over the summer so he already knew where the nearest dining hall was, though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t still slightly confused about which lines he was supposed to stand in. It took some friendly nudges from people around him, but he figured it out and got a greasy but tasty grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. He ate quickly, feeling slightly insecure about sitting alone, and tried to just enjoy the architecture of the very modern, open space around him. 

He got back to the dorm and sat on his bed texting some friends from high school pictures of his new room. He hadn’t really kept in close contact with them so it wasn’t a huge surprise that they didn’t immediately respond. He decided the thing to do was just look over his course materials for class the next day, and he was still sitting at his desk flipping through his books when James and Peter returned from dinner around the same time. 

“No way are you studying right now. Am I going to have to feel completely inadequate about my studying habits this year?” James said as he and Peter took in the books spread on Sirius’ desk.

“Not completely, just slightly inadequate.” Sirius said with mock sincerity. James looked affronted until Sirius let one side of his mouth curl up and they both laughed. “Nah, I was just bored and wanted to check out what might be covered this semester."  


"Okay good, glad to hear it", James shook his head as he laughed a bit more, "Have you decided your major yet?"

"I know my parents want me to be a Classics major, and then go to Law school, but that's not happening. They made me sign up for Intro to Classics, but that's as far as I'm willing to let it go... I'm really intrigued by this studio art class I signed up for this semester, so maybe that? We'll have to see how it goes." Sirius shrugged.

"That's fair. I'm undeclared too. Honestly I have no clue what I want to do, I think I just want to help people?" James sat down at his desk chair as he said this, "I'm signed up for Sociology of Gender which should be cool, but also a few other random classes I just thought sounded interesting." James turned his head to Peter, "What about you Pete? Have you declared your major?"

Pete nodded and said, "Yeah I've known for a while that I'm gonna be a business major. I'm not exactly certain what I'll do once I have a business degree but my dad says it's a sensible thing to do, and I don't mind the idea." At the end of his statement Peter trailed off looking mildly scared.

"Seems pretty reasonable to me!" James interrupted Pete's inner despair, "There's plenty of time for us to figure this stuff out so let's not stress about it." 

After that things got a little quieter, so Sirius put music on again. They spent a while all doing their own things, continuing to arrange books or clothes. None of them said as much, but there was a definite feeling of uncertainty in the room. Peter was the most obvious, occasionally walking past the door between their rooms as if wondering whether or not to speak up. James and Peter had both come from homes where they were cherished, so they weren’t used to feeling quite so far from their parents. It would be the first night that they were really independent. Sirius, of course, was well acquainted with feeling alone. He had a brother back home, but rather than feeling like he had an ally against their parents, he’d always felt more like he had a competitor. In any case, Sirius was enjoying being so far away from his family. 

After a couple hours, Sirius decided it was time for a little pampering. He grabbed his shower caddy, stuffed with his bathroom supplies, and moved toward the door only to be stopped by James.

“What the hell are all those oils and potions?” James asked incredulously.

“Oils and potions? James my dear boy, these are the essentials for my night time routine.” Sirius patted the shower caddy affectionately. 

“You mean to tell me you use ALL of those products EVERY night!?” Sirius could see James counting them with his eyes.

“Yes, and before you say anything else, no one has skin this perfect without some maintenance. In addition to that, just because you have your youthful bright skin now, doesn’t mean it will stay that way. I for one plan on looking like a greek god well into my 70s.”

Peter had poked his head through the doorway to get a glimpse of Sirius’ skincare products and he too was now staring at Sirius with confusion and wonder. 

After gears turning inside his head, James burst out with, “You can’t possibly know what they all do. They can’t all be different things!”

“Au contraire! There’s your obvious shampoo and conditioner, as well as my leave in conditioner and hair masks for when my hair needs a little pick me up. Then we have the skincare products;” Sirius ticked them off his hands as he spoke, “Oil-based cleanser, water-based cleanser, exfoliator, toner, essence, ampoule, serum, sheet masks, eye cream, and moisturizer.”

“You made some of those up.” Peter accused him.

“It’s a Korean ten step skin care routine you heathens, and might I ask what you two do to take care of your beautiful faces?”

They looked at each other with blank expressions and Peter coughed up a hesitant, “My mom makes me wear sunscreen every day? But I think that’s because we’ve a history of skin cancer in my family.”

“She’s a sensible woman, sunscreen is essential, I wear it every day as well. But again: do either of you own a face wash?” Sirius looked at them both. 

“I own a face wash, but I definitely don’t use it every day…” James suddenly looked sheepish.

“I usually just wash my face with warm water?” Peter looked down at the floor.

“Well I have good news and bad news.” Sirius announced in a grave manner, “Which would you like first?”

James answered “The bad news?”

“The bad news is that if you continue as you are, you’re both going to be cracked and spotted like oatmeal cookies by the time you’re forty.” 

“What’s the good news?” Peter cautiously looked at Sirius.

“The good news is that I have plenty of face masks to go around.” Sirius grinned.

And so when their RA, Frank Longbottom, knocked on their door to tell them that there would be a floor bonding adventure in the city tomorrow he was met with three boys wearing korean sheet masks--two of them resolutely refusing to make eye contact. 


End file.
